The real Lin Shady

New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin might be sidelined for the rest of the NBA season with an injured knee, but local lyricist MC Han is keeping him in the game with the release of his group Xinjiekou Posse's latest single "Lin Shuhao" - a tribute to the star point guard's Chinese name - slated this weekend at Mao Livehouse. Dusting the horn-laden track with samples of announcers praising Lin's Cinderella story, Han takes aim at teams that snubbed the Harvard graduate and lauds how the 23-year-old has slam dunked Asian stereotypes.

"A yellow-skinned face enthroned King of New York/Never giving up his struggle/Fighting through black players charging toward the basket," Han raps in the song.

The track is timely given the domestic media's unwavering obsession with Lin's ancestral roots, but it's also sparked discussion about the identity of Chinese hip-hop.

"People who get into all that usually suffer insecurity," the native Beijinger said of the hype. "I love AC Milan way more than Beijing Guoan, but who cares where they're from? I love them because they play beautifully."

Han also touched on expectations based on racial stereotypes, a challenge he eluded is associated with personal rap idol, Eminem.

"No matter how hard [Eminem] tries, he'll always be an outsider," said Han of the white Detroit rapper, drawing parallels to Lin. "All societies have some form of this prejudice. Thankfully, [the US and China] are way more accepting than they were 20 years ago."

"We've all been looked down on by someone and we've all sought others' approval," Han continued. "Both [Lin and Eminem] have gained respect from people who overlooked them before. They overcame those obstacles and that's the message we need to take from them."

The Lin controversy kicked up old dust in the US surrounding Asian-American identity, something that Chinese-American hip-hop artist Jason Chu closely observed from Beijing.

"Race in America is a delicate thing, but this was all about seeing the underdog triumph. That's the American dream," he explained.

After two years of creating hip-hop in the capital, the rapper bids Beijing farewell with a performance at Top Red Gallery this Saturday starting at 7 pm. For Chu, it's also a chance to celebrate how far hip-hop has come in modern China.

"Hip-hop is the antithesis to Chinese culture," explained Chu. "It's the proverbial nail that sticks out and what makes it scary is what makes it necessary today."

His show will include the screening of his latest music video, "City of the North," an erhu-sampled track that recounts what a metropolis in hyper drive brings to art and identity. "You've got extreme wealth and extreme poverty. It breeds musicians who understand the struggle to be in a big city with a lot of money," said Chu of the city, where he also worked at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. He's preparing to return to the US to study at Fuller Theological Seminary in California.

"They hear the knock outside and they stumble and flee/While I roam the city free like Grand Theft Auto Three," raps Chu in "City of the North," a commentary on living in between two societies as a Chinese-American in Beijing.

"As somebody with an American passport, that sense of not belonging brings freedom. There are a lot of aspects of Chinese culture that I'm detached from, but it's a combination of being free from the fear and outside the system."

Though rapping in English between MCs spitting Putonghua, Chu has found new perspective on the art form.

"Words mean what they sound," he said. "You're meant to feel it and that's important to China because hip-hop adds to the power of your voice. It adds to the chorus in this age. It teaches us that even if you don't have the words, your voice can be powerful."

Han, however, uses that voice with caution. "I rap about social issues and stay away from anything sensitive. If you want to play, you've got to play by the rules," he lamented.